101fundraising
The problem with money
I think it is quite ironic that most nonprofits and fundraisers have so much trouble with money. The ways we consider the money we raise and the money we spend are still measured and defined Read more…
donors
Give donors the respect they deserve
Many fundraisers are aware of relationship fundraising. Ken Burnett’s famous book Relationship Fundraising has opened many eyes over the last 25 years. There aren’t many fundraisers who haven’t read this book. However, its vision and Read more…
acquisition
How to fix face-to-face fundraising
This graph shows face-to-face attrition, in the first three months, for an enormous UK charity. It’s more than likely a very familiar, and frustrating, image for you. In fact, it’s so familiar that a recent Read more…
communication
Making assumptions – a fast track for failure
Have you ever, in your first few months of a new job, asked a question and been told, “That’s just the way we do things here”? Have you ever been the person frantically multitasking to Read more…
acquisition
Make fundraising great again!
I’d be shocked if there were any, or many, Trump supporters among this community of fundraising hipsters. But how many otherwise great people inadvertently emulate him as fundraising practitioners? What do I mean? Well, if Read more…
Best posts Q4 2016
Changing fundraising. For good.
Much has changed since the Commission on the Donor Experience was initiated in mid 2015. Early in the process Giles Pegram and Ken Burnett each set themselves the task of listing 10 things they’d most Read more…
Best posts Q4 2016
I can’t thank you enough
Sometimes it’s the simple things that transform the relationship with a donor into something magic. As part of my quest for examples of the best donor-centric fundraising for The Commission on the Donor Experience I Read more…
Best posts Q4 2016
A donor relationship is not a trick
Rockstar Amanda Palmer said it in the opening plenary of the #IFC2016 : “A relationship is not a trick“. And it came back to me throughout the conference. The best donor relations are based on authenticity and reciprocity. If that’s Read more…
communication
Continuous donor choice: fundraising’s best opportunity in ages
by Jackie Fowler, Ken Burnett and Tim Connor This article has been written as part of the preparations for project 13 of the Commission on the Donor Experience, ‘Giving donors choices and managing preferences’. In Read more…
IFC-2016
Transformative change depends on a new kind of leader
Non-profits are no longer guaranteed a free lunch. We have to work harder than ever to raise the funds we need, which — as we have seen in many instances around the world — leaves Read more…
communication
How Far Do I Want To Go With You?
It’s a bit of a dance, really, isn’t it? A little pas de deux between donor and nonprofit: You take a step towards me, and I either step forward to meet you, or retreat. For Read more…
acquisition
Here be dragons
Fundraising needs to change. The way ahead is unchartered. It’s going to need those with courage, and an appetite to try the unknown – fundraisers willing to explore a different approach, feel the fear, and Read more…
communication
Thanking – my goodness it really works
Donors like to be thanked and we like to thank donors. Don’t we? Yes, particularly if it’s cheap and quick. Let me tell you what we did. It was fairly cheap, not so quick, but Read more…
donor service
The acceptable face of fundraising targets
If the donor experience, not fundraising targets, should be at the heart of future fundraising strategies, how will our organisations achieve what they need? Some years ago I squirreled away a cryptic comment from a Read more…
database
How answering ‘Why’ and ‘What’ could change your fundraising
a.k.a. how much money would you raise if you knew anything meaningful about ‘your’ donors? Do you recognize her? She’s been on your house file for three and a half years now. Each month she Read more…
communication
A Brief History of Fundraising
Once upon a time there was a need. A number of people recognised it and wanted to do something about it. They knew this would involve them giving money. That wasn’t a problem. They needed Read more…
donors
Stop talking about ‘stewardship’ – start doing it
Sad though it is to admit, you do get to a certain point in life where you start to notice certain themes, dynamics, characters and scenarios you’ve come across many times before – sometimes over Read more…
donor service
An example of greatness in donor appreciation and recognition
Last week Jeff Brooks reminded his readers how to write an effective thank you to your excellent donors. In order to “thank your donors so they really feel thanked” you need to know the following Read more…
acquisition
Donor centricity is easy, but it’s not
It’s really unfair. Like any fundraiser, you’ll eventually discover the concept of donor centricity, just like any marketeer discovers customer experience optimisation. You’ll love the concept, because your gut tells you it’s the Truth. You’ll Read more…
communication
Exceeding Supporter Expectations with a WOW!
I once had a rather nice Italian linen suit. Back in the day when a rather baggy disheveled look was cool. Or so I thought at the time. One day when I went to collect Read more…
donors
I can’t get no (remuneration based on donor) satisfaction
My previous blog on 101fundraising earlier this week outlined some of the key theories from social psychology that Rogare’s project to review relationship fundraising had suggested might be usefully applied to the discipline. I now Read more…
donors
Choose relationship fundraising. Or not.
You’d be hard pushed to overstate how important the concept of ‘relationship fundraising’ is to many fundraisers. You only need to do a quick search on 101Fundraising to realise that. But despite it being one Read more…
acquisition
Four Things from #IFC2015 That Will Help You be a Better Fundraiser
The Resource Alliance’s International Fundraising Congress is hands down the best investment a fundraiser can make in their career and themselves. Every year, some of the best minds in fundraising gather in Noordwijk to elevate Read more…
donors
Where now for fundraising?
When fundraising is seen as a public enemy, for sure it’s time to change. To coincide with last Wednesday’s launch of the Etherington Review* the BBC published a poll revealing that 52 per cent of Read more…
donors
The price we pay for losing sight of the donor
I have been somewhat dismayed at the flood of criticisms that are now threatening to engulf our great profession. In my fifty years of fundraising, I have never seen anything like it. First, the sad Read more…